New Sister Site: Scream-Trilogy.net
Check out our new “sister” website for coverage of the now-retro SCREAM series – scream-trilogy.net
April 2010
Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street magazine
In 1989 Marvel Comics gave Freddy Krueger is own black and white magazine. The magazine only lasted for two issues due to the outcry from angry parents. Marvel wanted no part of the controversy and cancelled the book before the sales figures for the first issue came in, at least that was the popular theory going around at the time. Apparently, none of the angry parents noticed the “Illustrated Horror for Mature Readers” warning on the covers. A third issue with a back to school theme was planned, the cover art can be seen at the end of the second issue. Sadly, Freddy fans will probably never see that lost Nightmare story.
The two issues that did make it on to newsstands were written by Steve Gerber. Tony DeZuniga provided the killer art work while Alfredo Alcala handled finishes. Rich Buckler also contributed art to the first issue but he’s missing from the second. The beautiful covers are by Joe Jusko.
Monsters Attack #2
Monster Attack! was a short lived black and white horror magazine published by Globe Communications, the same folks responsible for Cracked magazine, from 1989 to 1990. Editor Mort Todd mixed horror stories from famous artists with articles on horror films, directors, and monster icons. Issue two featured a retrospective on NOES 1-4 written by Kevin McMahon. Along with reviews for each film McMahon explains how each film added to the growing popularity of Freddy Krueger. The article and cover art were intended to capture the attention of Freddy fans eagerly awaiting the release of NOES 5. This wasn’t Freddy’s only appearance on a Monsters Attack! cover. He can be seen on cover of the first issue, lurking behind a cadre of famous movie monsters.
Fright Flicks
In 1988 Topps released Fright Flicks, a cards set featuring gory images from popular horror films. It’s pretty clear Topps saw Freddy Krueger as the star of the set when one looks at a Fright Flicks box. On top a grinning Freddy is flashing his claw hand with each blade piercing a card. 5 of the 11 stickers show Freddy and many of the cards in the regular set contain images from the first three Nightmare on Elm St. films. Other images come from Fright Night, An American Werewolf in London, the first two Alien films, Predator, Cronenburg’s The Fly, Pumpkinhead, Day of the Dead, Ghostbusters, and Poltergeist. The set consists of 90 picture cards with a short scary story on the back. The backs of the 11 sticker cards form a giant horror poster when placed in the proper order.
The biggest problem with Fright Flicks is it’s damn near impossible to make a set when you buy a whole box. The packs are notorious for containing multiple copies of the same card. I know one poor guy who bought three boxes and still couldn’t build a complete set. Fans were stuck with hundreds of duplicates unless they could find someone to trade with. (I’ll trade you Bub for the one with Evil Ed getting stabbed with a table leg by Roddy McDowall.) The good news for horror collectors is there are still plenty of Fright Flicks boxes and packs floating around. Take a trip to a flea market, card shop, or comic book store and you’ll likely find a dust covered box in a forgotten showcase.
Freddy Krueger Week Starts Today
Retro Slashers is celebrating the return of Freddy Krueger to the big screen with a week dedicated to the slasher icon. We’ll showcase some of the Freddy merchandise that popped up during the height of Freddy Mania, offer a mini review of the New Nightmare hitting theaters April 30th, and keep you updated on the box-office returns as the results come in.
We also want your thoughts on the Nightmare remake. Are you excited? Worried? Pissed off? Let us know. My biggest question is can Freddy Krueger survive without Robert Englund? Is the character strong enough to keep going even after the man famous for the role has been replaced? Some popular characters can continue on no matter who is playing the part. Just look at all the different actors who’ve played Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, Michael Myers, and Jason. Norman Bates and the Psycho franchise, on the other hand, died with Anthony Perkins. Next weekend’s box-office might tell us which category Freddy falls into.
Updated: Robert Englund guest stars on Bones tonight
Robert Englund will make a guest appearance on tonight’s episode of Bones. “The Death of the Queen Bee” has Booth and Bones investigating a death at a class reunion. Englund will be a chief suspect (but a red herring I suspect) in the murder. The commercial I saw featured Englund holding a really big hunting knife and gave off a slight slasher vibe along the lines of Prom Night and Slaughter High. Bones airs at 8:00 p.m. EST on the Fox network.
Update: I hope slasher fans watched this episode because there were several slasher in-jokes. Englund played Mr. Buxley, who’s name is a play on the character Englund played in Eaten Alive. He even used the same voice. Mr. Buxley’s workshop contains Cropsy’s shears, Jason’s machete and just about every other sharp weapon featured in a slasher kill. There’s one reference to Mr. Buxley being “creepy like Freddy” and a character calls the murders “very teen slasher movie-ish.” The soap opera elements among the regular cast members dragged on the story a bit but overall this episode was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Retro Slashers is now Retro Mini Moni
Earlier this week Platinum Dunes, unhappy with the negative coverage their line of slasher remakes received on this site, bought the rights to Retro Slashers. The new owners have one simple rule: NO MORE SLASHER COVERAGE OF ANY KIND. So it is with great sadness that we must report Retro Slashers is no more. But we are proud to announce the birth of our new website Retro Mini Moni and we hope our loyal readers will continue to visit this new site. Sometimes change can be a sad thing but we are really excited about the new direction the site is taking. Oh, if you could only see our faces you’d know just how excited we really are.
Future posts will include performances by Mini Moni on Music Station (Mini Moni Telephone Rin Rin Rin) and Hello! Morning (Jankenpon). We will also post the entire infamous episode of Do You Want To Get Some FUN Tonight featuring Ai Kago and Tsuji Nozomi’s profanity laced outburst directed at one of the hosts. Special thanks to Mr. Michael Bay for finding and sending us the rare footage. The newest member of the Retro Mini Moni crew, Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein, is working on a series of articles describing Mini Moni’s cultural impact on Japanese fashion and Tokyo Go-Go Clubs. And there are many more exciting posts and interviews for all of you Mini Moni otaku in the very near future.
If you would like to get in touch with any of the Mini Moni ladies you can do so by clicking on the following links. Just be sure to tell them Retro Mini Moni sent you. We haven’t been able to track down Mika Todd so if any of you Retro Mini Moni fans know where she is or how to get in touch with her please drop us a line and let us know.
Mari Yaguchi: http://ameblo.jp/mari-yaguchi/
Tsuji Nozomi: http://ameblo.jp/tsuji-nozomi
Ai Kago: http://biscuitclub.fc.yahoo.co.jp/